BOE President's Letter

A Message from the President of the Board of Education

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The past year has been one of academic growth. Dr. Rossi, our superintendent, has focused on updating the curriculum in many of our subject areas to comply with state and federal requirements, and to align our course content with that of Phillipsburg and the five sending districts. A recent article in the Star Ledger about the New Jersey School Report Card shows that Lopatcong Middle School is the only school in the 5 county area to have a 5% or greater improvement in all 6 categories. The Elementary School showed a 5% or greater improvement in 3 of the 6 categories.

The greatest challenge facing our district today is the stalled construction of the new Phillipsburg High School. Our PTA sponsored an information night attended by Dr. Pethick, superintendent of the Phillipsburg School District, and three of our legislators, Senator Lance, Assemblyman Doherty, and Assemblywoman Karrow. A rally for Phillipsburg and the sending districts at the site of the new High School is planned for Saturday April 21^st. Please plan to come out and show your support.

New staff positions for next year include a second grade teacher, a middle school math teacher, a Special Education teacher, and a Basic Skills instructor, to address the increasing growing needs of our students. We will be purchasing new science textbooks for grades 6, 7, and 8, and new Spanish textbooks for the Middle School. Security improvements at the Elementary School will include new exterior doors, window replacements in the all purpose room, a keyless entry system, exterior doors alarms, and a security panel upgrade.

Our budget will be presented for your approval on April 17^th when you will have the opportunity to vote at your designated Lopatcong Township polling place. The tax rate has increased 2.1 cents from $1.138 to $1.159 per $100 of assessed value. Debt Service Tax Rate has actually decreased by 0.2 cents. The owner of a $300,000 home will see a tax increase of $63.

Two factors contributed to the low tax rate increase for this coming year. We received a 3% increase in state aid which amounts to about $80,000. We have $107,000 left in the construction account from the Middle School, which will be given back to the voters by reducing the tax rate for this year.

Lopatcong continues to offer an excellent education for a responsible cost. We have the second lowest cost per student in Warren County ($899 less than the county average, and $1,886 less than the state average). We have the 27th lowest per pupil cost out of all 88 K-8 Districts of our size in the entire state.

Cost per Pupil Data from the NJDOE Comparative Spending Guide, March 2007

Lopatcong School District (Type K-8 with 750+ students)	$9,944
Average of all Warren County K-8 Districts	$10,843
State Average for districts of our size and type	$11,032
State Average for all types of K-8 districts	$11,830